runtime

The runtime module provides access to project settings, XSLT transformations, file lookup, and external commands.

runtime = require("runtime")

Properties

projectdir

The current project directory as a string.

print(runtime.projectdir)
-- /home/user/myproject

variables

Access to the variables passed via the -v command line flag or the [variables] section of the configuration file. Individual keys can be read and written; the table cannot be iterated with pairs().

-- xts -v myvar=hello
print(runtime.variables.myvar)  -- "hello"

runtime.variables.output = "draft"

options

Configuration settings (read/write). These correspond to entries in the configuration file. Values read back as their string rendering, so this is mainly useful for writing:

runtime.options.runs = "2"

finalizer

A callback function that runs after PDF creation.

runtime.finalizer = function()
    print("PDF created successfully")
end

log

Logging functions at different levels.

runtime.log.debug("detailed info")
runtime.log.info("processing started")
runtime.log.warn("missing optional data")
runtime.log.error("something went wrong")

Functions

execute(args)

Runs an external program. The first entry in the table is the command, followed by arguments.

ok, msg = runtime.execute({"ls", "-l", "data"})
if not ok then
    print(msg)
end

find_file(name)

Finds a file in the XTS search path. Returns the absolute path or nil if not found.

path = runtime.find_file("layout.xml")
if path then
    print("Found: " .. path)
end